Inkling Cafe
by SaphiralovesTolkien
Summary: All Victory wanted to do was get a psychologist license, quit his job at the cafe, and help some people who really needed it. Not in his plans, was getting tangled up in the nuclear bomb that was the Avengers and somehow becoming their psychologist, while still working at the cafe with Carl (Freaking Carl). It really is all Vision's fault.
1. Chapter 1: Vision

_Inkling Cafe_

 **Author's Note: Hello! *wave* This is a fict that entered my head and wouldn't let go after reading other cafe inspired stories and drinking coffee. While most of this is going to be light hearted there will be some tough scenes and themes later on (much later on) and there will be warnings posted before each chapter. This is more of an outlet while I work on another fict so updates will be infrequent and there really won't be any set update time.**

 **No, I do not own the Avengers or anything Marvel-esque. Please don't sue me.**

 **Without further a do,**

 **Enjoy.**

 _Chapter One: Vision_

 _"The only thing I know for sure about today is coffee. Everything else is just wild speculation."_

 _~Nanea Hoffman_

 _Manhattan Island, New York_

He was so freaking close it was almost sad when he realized he could not, in fact, reach the top of the menu. He huffed and tried to stretch further, ignoring the voice in his head that said this was a really bad idea. The ladder he was standing on rocked ominously and he stilled for a moment before trying again, reaching out with long fingers which almost, but didn't, reach the menu. By the time he realized his position was compromised it was too late to rectify his mistake; should have just asked Carl, not that Carl would actually help him.

He let out a small shriek as the ladder finally fell only to be caught a second later by someone who he was undoubtedly going to give free coffee to, " Thank you for catching me Mr.-"

He paused as he looked up into the face of one of the new members of the Avengers. The man was magenta, wore a gold cape, and had a yellow gem stuck in the middle of his forehead.

"You should really be more careful," he said, gently setting the barista down, "and I would refrain from climbing any more ladders in the future."

"I will keep that in mind," said the barista, picking up the ladder and setting it aside to be put away later, "no more ladders."

He brushed a piece of white hair aside and looked up at the Avenger, "I assume you did not just come in here to save random falling baristas, so what can I help you with?"

The man handed him a piece of paper with a list of coffees for the various members of the Avengers. The barista barely glanced at the list before starting to make the coffees while the magenta colored Avenger looked around the cafe.

It was quaint. The cafe was situated about a block from Avengers tower which allowed the patrons who sat in the rooftop gardens, to admire the gleaming tower that housed the famous heroes. Inside the cafe itself, there were lounge chairs and squishy armchairs with small round tables to set drinks on while one perused the numerous bookshelves around the room. It was not so much a hipster cafe as more something the owner had created based off the famous _Eagle and Child_ in England. It was even called the _Inkling Cafe_ based off the famous group of authors that used to sit in the _Eagle and Child_ and talk about their novels.

The barista looked up from the latte machine and saw the Avenger looking at the menu with amusement, "I did not realize that there were coffee drinks named after the Avengers."

The barista didn't bother to glance at the menu; he knew it all by heart, "Yes, it was something the owner thought would attract more customers and show a little of our appreciation for what the Avengers did here and now Sokovia. Although, you did destroy an entire city; you had a lot of people talking about that, some were unsure whether or not the Avengers should be the defense force for New York."

The magenta Avenger looked down and started sorting out the sugar packets, "Yes. I am aware that many people see the Avengers as an unregulated force that only concerns itself with issues that they deem worthy. I fear that this development will cause issues further in the future."

The barista hummed in acknowledge as he finished the last of the coffees; an Americano which he was positive was for Captain America, "Well whatever the world thinks, I will still support the Avengers; I do enjoy being alive."

The barista gave the Avenger a small smile as he set the last drink on the counter and ducked down behind it to grabs trays. The Avenger placed the sugar packets back in their containers, color assorted, "If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing on the ladder?"

"Hmmm?"

"When I caught you after you fell, what were you trying to do?"

The barista straightened back up with three trays in his hands, "I was trying to replace an old coffee name with a new one, but I couldn't quite reach it and, well, you know the rest."

The Avenger glanced at the menu then at the barista who was putting the coffees in the trays, "If you would like, I can change the name for you."

The barista looked up, "Would you? It needs to be changed before the owner gets back from her vacation with her girlfriend."

He handed the magenta Avenger the new name, "Just slide the old one out and slide this one in."

The barista went back to sticking the coffees in the trays while the Avenger changed the name. When he was done the barista exchanged the old name for three trays of coffee that he helped balance in the arms of the Avenger. When the barista looked up at the menu he saw the new name and blushed lightly as he turned back to the amused Avenger, " It must be destiny that you came in here."

The Avenger gave him a smile and somehow managed to free a hand and not drop any coffee, "Hello, I'm Vision."

The barista smiled and gently shook his hand, "Victory."

He helped rearrange the coffee trays in Vision's arms before asking him to wait a moment and disappeared into the kitchen. Vision waited quietly, ignoring the not very, discrete looks the other patrons of the cafe were giving him. When Victory came back he had a purple and gold drink in his hand, "For catching me," he explained as he expertly managed to stick the drink named after the present Avenger among the other coffees, "I don't know if you drink, but you can always give it to one of your teammates."

Vision nodded, "I am sure I will see you again, Mr. Stark thinks your coffee is a gift from heaven."

Victory laughed, "In that case, you should probably go; don't want to keep Iron man from his coffee."

He watched as Vision carefully walked out the doors before turning to his next patron.

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	2. Chapter 2: Sam

Inkling Cafe

By: SaphiralovesTolkien

 _Chapter Two: Sam_

" _I just love how coffee gives me the energy to pretend I know what the hell I'm doing."_

 _~Nanea Hoffman_

 **Authors Note: Back for round two! I still don't own anything that looks like it belongs to someone else. Thanks to those who read and followed!**

 _Inkling Cafe, Manhattan Island, New York_

Victory was not one to get annoyed easily, but Carl definitely took the cake with the one to get him annoyed the quickest, "Carl how many times am I going to have to say no before you understand?"

He swept a book off one of the tables, stuck it back in its place in one of the bookshelves, and went behind the counter. Carl followed and leaned against the countertop getting directly in the way of the barista, "Come on V, just one date. I promise it will be fun."

Victory gave him a cool green eyed stare, "For the last time no. Now you are blocking the counter and patrons from ordering, move. Alex won't like to hear that her business has decreased because _someone_ wasn't doing their job."

Carl gave his younger co-worker an annoyed look, "I'm the assistant manager soon to become the owner when Alex marries my sister and gives it to me. When that happens you'll be _my_ worker and will have to do what I say."

Victory rolled his eyes and gave him an unimpressed look, "What makes you think she's going to give you the cafe. She loves working here; she wouldn't give that up just because she got married."

He went to turn on the machines, while Carl remained leaning against the counter following Victory's every move. Victory tried to ignore him and gave the counter a wide berth. Carl had always had the delusion that their boss, Alexandra Skarskeld, was going to bequeath the cafe to him ever since she started dating his sister, Evalyn. He swore the two were going to get married and want to retire, which was preposterous considering Alex is 32, but it was hard to argue with him about it when he was so dead convinced.

Victory was putting pastries in the display box and noticed Carl still staring at him; it had gotten creepy about 5 minutes ago, "Stop staring at me, and move away from the counter so patrons can come and order."

Carl straightened up and walked around until he got behind the counter where he leaned one side against it to give Victory a cocky grin, "Just say yes; I can promise that you'll have a very good time."

Victory gave him a very pointed look, "No means no; I'm interested in dating anyone right now."

' _And certainly not you,'_ he thought.

Carl narrowed his eyes, "What is it V, huh? Everybody likes me, everybody wants to date me and I chose you; it's an honor, treat it like one."

Carl had backed the barista up against one of the machines and got a very icy glare and a hissed reply in return, "I think you should go back to work now; you do not want an Avenger to interfere do you?"

He nodded at the door behind Carl who whipped around in time to see Vision walk in followed by the Falcon. Carl cursed under his breath and took a step back allowing Victory to escape. Carl sent him one last meaningful look before turning to deal with the other patrons that started coming through the door.

Victory smiled as the two Avengers approached the counter, "Either it is destiny or you must really like my coffee for you to save me twice now."

Sam raised an eyebrow as Vision turned a darker shade of magenta, "What's this? You saving random baristas now?"

Victory laughed, "We met when he saved me from falling off a ladder."

"What were you doing falling off ladders?"

Victory waved a hand at him, "That is not important now. He saved me and that is all that matters."

"Well I don't blame Viz for saving someone as pretty as you." Sam winked at the barista who laughed, "Do you compliment every barista you meet or am I just special Falcon?"

Sam laughed, "Just you. Definitely the prettiest one I've ever met." He stuck his hand out, "and it's Sam, Sam Wilson."

Victory smiled and accepted his hand, "Victory Hope Pendragon."

Sam brought the barista's hand up to his mouth and kissed his knuckles causing him to laugh, "I didn't know we were in the presence of royalty. Why didn't you tell me Viz, could have saved me from embarrassment."

Vision looked confused, "I do not understand."

Victory smiled as he took his hand back and placed them both on the counter, "My last name is Pendragon which is usually associated with the King Arthur legends; hence 'royalty'."

"And he's british," said Sam enthusiastically, "it all fits!"

Victory laughed again and swept a piece of red hair away from his eyes, "So assuming you did not just come in here to save random baristas, what can I get you both?"

* * *

 _About an hour later_

"This is going to sound super weird, but man, I taste _good!_ "

Victory giggled at the expression on Vision's face at that comment and nearly put too much whipped cream in the coffee he was making, "You are going to get me fired!"

Sam flashed him a grin, "If you ever do I can guarantee you'll get a job at the compound just making coffee; it'd probably come with great benefits too."

"The Avengers' personal coffee barista, just what I wanted to do with my life."

"Alright, alright well, what do you want to do?"

Victory smiled as he placed the lid on the coffee and passed it to its owner, "I'm currently getting my psychology license."

"Really?" Asked Sam, intrigued. He leaned against the counter as Victory started on his next drink, "Have you thought of what kind? Children? Adult? Vet? I work with war vets and helping them get reacclimated to civilization after their tours."

"Well," began Victory, "I was actually thinking of being a-"

"I am sorry to interrupt," said Vision, "But we were supposed to be back at the tower an hour ago."

Victory raised an eyebrow at Sam who blushed, "Where were you supposed to bring drinks back to the rest of the Avengers an hour ago?"

"Yes," replied Vision simply, while Sam just sipped at his drink and declined to answer.

Victory shook his head and handed the latte to the customer. He then asked the two to wait for a moment before disappearing into the back. Sam exchanged a look with Vision, "You have any clue what he's doing?"

Vision shrugged, "Last time he did this he came back with a free drink."

Sam looked over at him, "He what?"

They both looked up as Victory came back balancing three trays with drinks in his arms. Vision quickly rushed forward to relieve him of two and Sam plucked the third out of the barista's hands, "You are a god Victory! Did you have all these premade just in case we came in?"

Victory grinned, "Vision did say we would be seeing more of each other considering that and I quote, 'is in love with the coffee."

"Well he wasn't wrong," said Sam hefting the tray in one hand and his drink in the other, "We probably shouldn't keep them waiting any longer; I dread what Nat is going to do when we return."

"Then go," said Victory, making a shooing motion with his hands, "before you get into anymore trouble with your teammates."

Sam grinned, "Couldn't persuade you to accompany us? If we showed up with a pretty barista Nat won't kill us!"

Victory just shook his head and laughed, "Go!"

Sam winked at him then swept out of the cafe. Vision gave Victory a smile before following Sam out the door. Victory smiled at the two Avengers then turned to the patron next in line, "And what can I get you today?"

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	3. Chapter 3: The Avengers

**Authors Note: Guess who's seeing Avengers Infinity War today! Sorry for the late update, but I had no clue how to finish the chapter. Here you go! I don't own anything...seriously, don't sue.**

Chapter 3: The Avengers

" _Before you come to me with any nonsense, ask yourself if it looks like I've had my coffee"_

 _~Nanea Hoffman_

 _The Front Gates, Avengers Compound_

Victory was very close to freaking out; in excitement of course. The cafe had gotten a call from the new Avengers Compound in upstate New York saying the Avengers wanted coffee _delivered_ to the compound itself. The employee who had answered the call, a girl named Liv, had tapped Victory's shoulder and had eagerly beckoned him over with wide eyes. When Victory had eventually made it over she had excitedly whispered that someone was calling from the _Avengers Compound_ and do we deliver?

Victory honestly had no clue if the cafe delivered or not, it had never come up when he first started working here. He couldn't call Alex, she was on vacation, and he definitely did not want to ask Carl, which meant he had to figure it out by himself. Liv had tapped him again and said they were asking if Victory himself would deliver and, wow! did he know the Avengers?

At that point Victory decided he might as well deliver to the Avengers, what was the harm? He got Liv to hang up with a promise that, yes he was going to deliver the coffee, and he dragged her over to the machines to help him make said coffees.

Now, he was at the compound's front gates looking through them at the sprawling grass scape and the numerous buildings that housed the famous heroes. He reached over, pressed the intercom button, and held it down as he spoke, "Hello? I have coffee for the Avengers?"

The intercom crackled before a voice spoke, "Name."

"Victory Pendragon; Victory Hope Pendragon."

"Hold."

Victory waited, his fingers tapping anxiously against his thighs. The intercom crackled, "You are clear to enter."

Victory pressed the button, "Thank you."

He looked up as the gates opened, he went through and rode up to the entrance of the compound. He had just dismounted and was opening up the containers which held the coffees, when the doors opened, "Is that a horse? Who rides horses anymore? This is New York not Texas."

"Thank you for the astute notice Mr. Stark, but horsepower has always been my mode of transportation."

Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man walked out of the compound and looked down at the barista and horse. Victory patted his horse's neck, he was a Shire horse and stood at 17 hands tall. He was all black except around his legs which were feathered and white; his name was Soundwave and he was three years old.

Tony walked down the stairs and sauntered over to the barista, "Call me Tony, I feel weird when people call me Mr. Stark; makes me feel old."

Victory elected to not respond and simply handed Stark- Tony, a container full of coffee, "Here, hold this."

Tony raised an eyebrow underneath his tinted sunglasses, "Aren't you supposed to bring the coffees in barista boy?"

"Victory and this is Soundwave."

He patted the horses neck. Soundwave snorted and looked down his nose at the small human then tapped his left front hoove against the ground in impatience. Victory smiled and unloaded the rest of the coffees, nudging Soundwave's side with his hip, "Alright you impatient horse go and eat the Avengers' grass."

Tony smirked, "The gardeners won't be happy about that."

"I would like to see them try and move him."

"Alright come on, the others are waiting for their coffee and I don't want to meet a coffee deprived Black Widow at 9 in the morning."

Tony walked back up the front stairs and went inside the compound; Victory looked at Soundwave to find the horse happily munching on grass, before following the Avenger inside. Victory stared around; there were former SHIELD agents bustling about busy, or acting busy. He followed Tony through the busy compound corridors and up a quick elevator ride to the third floor.

When the doors opened the first thing Victory noticed was the shouting and yelling that came from the living room. Victory stepped fully into the room and saw that four of the Avengers, Sam, Clint, Scott, and Pietro, were playing Mario Kart and yelling at the screen. Bruce Banner was on the couch reading a medical journal, Wanda was engrossed in a novel, Natasha was painting her nails blood red, Steve was drawing, and Rhodey was scrolling on a tablet.

Steve was the first person to look up when he heard the elevator doors ding open and see Tony and Victory, "Coffee's here guys."

He put his sketchbook aside and got up to help relieve the barista. He took one of the trays and stuck his other hand out, "Steve Rogers."

Victory smiled up at him and shook his hand, "Victory Pendragon."

"You know he probably knows all our names, so the introduction wasn't really necessary," said Tony offhandedly as he walked completely into the room and set the coffees down on the table.

"Just being polite Tony," said Steve with a small head shake before relieving Victory of the other tray.

"Son of a-," Clint swore as he threw down his controller in defeat, while Sam smirked and raised his controller over his head in victory. Scott rolled his eyes and Pietro complained about Sam always winning, "You're just ticked that I'm faster than you _Quicksilver,_ " said Sam with a victorious smirk.

Pietro shot Sam a very undignified glare, "You are not faster than m-," he caught sight of Victory over Sam's shoulder trying very hard, and failing, to hide a smile.

Sam noticed Pietro's gaze shift to some point behind him and he glanced over his shoulder. Sam grinned, "Well if it isn't Victory the barista! How're you doing? Need to be saved again?"

Victory stopped trying to suppress a smile, "Thankfully I have not managed to get myself into a position like last time, but I will keep your offer in mind."

Sam grinned, "Just let me know when babe."

Pietro got up and zipped over causing Victory's red white hair to fly around, startling the barista. Pietro took in the odd hair, slim frame, green eyes, and british accent; he was cute; very cute. He smirked and took one of those slim hands and brushed his lips across the knuckles, " Ste krásny ako anjel."

Victory tilted his head in confusion, not recognizing the language. Wanda snorted into her book, "Really Pietro? 'You are as beautiful as an angel?' Cliche much?"

Pietro stuck his tongue out at his sister, while Victory blushed and tucked a piece of hair behind his ear. There was another snort and Clint strolled up with an iced Captain Americano in his hand, "Was that really the best you could come up with?"

Pietro glared at Clint, "Like you can do better!"

Clint smirked and turned toward Victory who had been looking between the two heroes in slight confusion. The archer took the brits' hand, "When do you have to go back to heaven? Because I've crawled up from hell for you."

There was silence, then Victory giggled which caused a chain reaction among the heroes who heard the pickup line. Wanda started giggling into her book, while Sam, Pietro, and Scott laughed out loud at Clint's horrid attempt. Natasha just shook her head and went back to painting her nails and Tony, Rhodey, and Steve all groaned.

"That was worse than the time Tony was drunk and flirted with a potted plant," said Rhodey.

Tony sent his friend a scandalous look, "I thought we agreed to never bring that up!"

Sam, Clint, and Pietro snickered and received a half glare from the inventor, "Whatever. At least I don't remember that; Clint will be stuck remembering that for a very long time. Never letting that go."

Clint rolled his eyes and opened his mouth, but Victory cut in, still giggling, "It was pretty bad."

Clint clapped a hand to his heart, "What are you saying? That line works every time! How do you think I got my wife?"

Natasha snorted, "Not that way I can assure you."

Clint shot the assassin a fake-hurt look and was about to say something when there was a small 'boom' from the kitchen. Dark grey smoke started pouring in from the kitchen setting the fire alarms off, which also caused the sprinklers to turn on; in the entire building. People started screaming and shouting from the floors below, while on the current floor there was a lot of yelling and shouting of ' _turn the damn sprinklers off Stark!'_ Tony did manage to get the sprinklers to turn off, though not before all the Avengers got soaked. There was grumbling and Natasha was giving Tony a stare that promised death or at least lots of pain if her coffee was ruined.

Steve wrung out his shirt, "Tony what happened?"

Tony shrugged, "Don't know Cap, came from the kitchen. Friday?"

" _It seems that Prince Odinson, the Valkyrie twins, and the Vision were attempting to make...something unidentifiable."_

The heroes looked at each other in confusion then looked at the kitchen door as Thor came out followed by the twins and Vision, "Friends! We apologize for starting a fire in the kitchen, but it seems your cooking mechanisms did not want to give us back the food."

"Uh, what?" Said Scott in confusion.

"Thor and Apollo were trying to reheat leftovers in the microwave and it would not open backup when the time was done, so they proceeded to...try and force it open," explained Vision.

Tony stared dumbstruck at the two demigods, while Artemis casually said, "I would not go into the kitchen any time soon."

Tony didn't seem to know what to say and continued staring at the two until Rhodey gently sat him down into a chair. The rest of the Avengers wrung out their clothing or shook their hair causing water droplets to sprinkle out. Natasha was the only one who continued sipping her coffee (thankfully finding it still warm) and painting her nails as if nothing happened.

Victory looked around at the wet heroes then picked up an untouched tray of coffees, held them out to the demigods, and said, "Coffee?"

 **Other Authors Note: So Apollo and Artemis are Valkyries with some pretty chaotic powers that sort of resemble Scarlet Witches. I'm not giving you more than that because I might use their history later on. Read, review, and Enjoy! And feel free to send me ideas for future chapters.**


	4. Chapter 4: The Roommates

Inkling Cafe

By: SaphiralovesTolkien

Chapter Four: The Roommates

" _A good roommate may be the single most important thing to have when one is away at school."_

 _~Barbara Dana_

 **Author Note: Hello lovelies! Thank you to all the people who liked and are following my story! You all really encourage me to keep writing and I already have an idea for chapter 5, so maybe you will all get it a little faster than this one. Thanks again!**

 _The Apartment, New York_

"Its giving me a strange look again."

 _Silence_

"V, love, it's giving me an evil eyed look."

Victory hummed from his bedroom; he was currently halfway underneath his bed looking for a shoe, "What did you do?"

"Nothing! All I am doing is eating Alexander's disgusting tuna sandwich."

"And there's the problem," murmured Victory quietly as he scooted back and got up; flashlight. He needed a flashlight.

"V, come get your... _thing_...before it does something it will regret."

Victory huffed then grabbed the flashlight and dove back under the bed, "Why is he always _my_ animal when he does something you do not like."

"Love, you're the only one he listens to; or even likes."

"Why did you get him then?"

"It's part of my major, I need to take care of an animal for a semester."

"Should have gotten a dog," murmured Victory as he crawled underneath the bed more.

There was a pattering of feet and then the bed springs squeaked as Victory's roommate jumped onto it. Victory crawled backward and emerged from underneath the bed victoriously with his missing shoe in his left hand. He looked up and saw his roommate, Leaf Leif, peering down at him with green eyes, "Hello love, having fun?"

Victory grinned, "I found my shoe so I think that qualifies as a yes. How was your experience with Tho-"

"He hates me, I left him eating that disgusting thing Alexander calls a 'sandwich' in the kitchen."

Victory fondly rolled his eyes at his fellow European, "If you do not like tuna then why were you eating it?"

Leaf sighed, "There was nothing left to eat and I did not feel like going out."

Victory pulled his shoes on and got up, "And therein lies your problem. I have to go to work; play nice with the cat please."

Victory left the room, leaving his roommate to grumble in norwegian; probably about the cat or Alexander, or both.

* * *

 _Inkling Cafe, New York_

"Hello Vision!" Said Victory cheerfully as he spotted the magenta Avenger coming in through the door. He swept back a piece of white hair and tossed a used coffee cup into the trash as the Avenger approached the counter.

"Hello Victory! How are you today?"

Victory smiled up at him, "I am good, how are you?"

Vision sighed, "I am once again on coffee duty for the team; Mr. Stark said something about 'getting me out of the house to experience the world,' so here I am."

Victory smiled as he started on the coffees, "Well, he was not wrong in sending you to get coffee; you will certainly meet the world coming through here."

The Avenger and the barista chatted as Victory made the coffees; barely glancing at the list Vision had handed him. When one made coffees daily for the Avengers, one tended to quickly memorize the list. Victory was making the last Captain Americano, and seriously who kept drinking them? when the employee door opened and a familiar voice wafted through, "V, when did you start serving the Avengers? I'm impressed, is Leaf jealous, please tell me he's jealous."

Victory turned as Alexander Ren, a.k.a. his other roommate, walked into the prep area with a grin on his face. Victory smiled as he handed Vision the last drink to place in the tray, "Where were you 20 minutes ago when I could have used your help?"

Alexander gave the brit a lazy grin, "You know me V, always have to enter fashionably late."

"And this is the third time this week you have come in late, care to explain that," said another voice suddenly and in entered Carl with an annoyed look on his face, "Mr. Ren you cannot keep coming in late and expect that there will still be a job waiting for you."

Alexander rolled his eyes and pulled a face that only Victory and Vision could see before turning to face the assistant manager, "Except that Alexandra actually likes me and I actually do my job. When was the last time you made a cup of coffee Carl?"

Carl spluttered and jabbed a finger at Alexander, "When Alexandra comes back we're going to have a serious talk about changing things around here starting with yo-"

"Yada, yada, yada," said Alexander moving his hand in a "talking" motion, "No one really cares Carl."

He turned back to his co-worker and the Avenger who were both trying very hard not to laugh, "So, how long have you two known each other?"

Carl spluttered angrily as he was ignored and stormed off to talk with customers. Alexander grinned as he watched the irritating man walk off, "Thought he would never leave."

"You should really stop annoying him so much Alec, he does have the ability to fire us," said Victory.

Alec turned toward him, "V, when Carl gains the ability to fire us, I'm quitting."

Victory smiled and turned away to help Vision balance four trays in his arms, "You really must be an Avenger to have the ability to hold all those trays."

Vision smiled, "Thank you and if you would not mind," he hesitated briefly. Victory gave him a curious look, "Yes?"

"Perhaps you would like to get coffee one day?"

Victory blushed lightly and ducked away into the kitchen. Vision turned to Alec in confusion. Alec grinned and leaned against the counter, " He's not used to getting asked out by people, let alone a superhero."

They both looked up as Victory came back still slightly red, but more calm. He leaned against the counter and tucked a folded piece of paper into one of the coffee trays, "My phone number and maybe tea instead of coffee?"

Vision nodded, "Tea. Have a nice rest of the day Victory."

"You too Vision," replied Victory as the Avenger carefully walked out the cafe door.

Alec grinned as Victory turned toward him, "Someone has a date!"

Victory hit him with a dish towel, "It is not a date! It is simply a meet up between two people who are considering becoming friends."

Alec snorted, "Whatever V, it looks like a date to me."

"Don't you have something to do like _your job?_ "

Alec gave him a mock salute, "Yes Captain, right away Captain."

Victory shook his head fondly as Alec turned toward a customer and gave her a dazzling smile before asking her what she would like today. As Victory started on the drink he mulled over Vision's question; it was just tea, certainly not a date. No, not a date whatsoever.

 **As always, review, like and follow! Feel free to give me ideas for future chapters and any feedback will be great!**


	5. Chapter 5: Tea Date with Soundwave

Inkling Cafe

By: SaphiralovesTolkien

Chapter 5: Tea Date with Soundwave

" _Every rider has that one special horse, that one horse who changes everything about them"_

 **Arthur's Note: Hi! *peers out from behind Vision* So, this chapter is longer than normal in apology for it being like two weeks late. So, sorry! This chapter actual delves into some hard stuff, nothing too deep, but still, we're getting there.**

 **Thanks to all who read and followed!**

 **To my lovely reviewer, maybe it will go that way maybe not, you'll have to see. Glad someone else seems to hate Carl as much as I do. The sexual harassment file isn't a bad idea...hmmmm. As for what Avenger Victory will get together with...that remains to be seen. (aka I have no idea)**

 **Enjoy more Victory, Vision, and Soundwave!**

 _Under some tree in Central Park, New York_

"What does asphyxiation mean?"

Alec glanced over at Leaf, "Aren't you supposed to be the biology major? Shouldn't you know what asphyxiation means?"

Leaf glared at him and threw his pencil, nailing the American in the forehead. Alec rubbed at the spot the pencil hit and threw a pretzel in retaliation. Victory rolled his eyes fondly at them before going back to his psyche essay on cognitive-behavior. This essay was an extremely important part of not only his grade, but also for the path to getting his psychology license. He's been waiting to get his license since he had decided he wanted to become a psychologist when he had the acci-; well it didn't matter. He was almost there.

Victory hummed to _Radioactive_ as he typed out the essay while at the same time ignoring his two roommates who had now evolved to throwing marshmallows at each other. Victory gave his roommates a look when he got a marshmallow to the head then sighed as another one came sailing over. He batted it away and closed the laptop lid; he was never going to get any work done if he stayed here, "Hey, I am going to go visit Soundwave, see you guys later?"

Victory snorted slightly as he didn't get acknowledged by either Alec or Leaf and got up, slinging his computer bag over his shoulder. He walked through Central Park enjoying the nice weather and definitely enjoying his day off. Days off were very rare for him; he was either at work or at school or interning somewhere and barely had time to himself. Now he happily walked through Central Park toward Riverdale Stables to see his horse who he may or may not have been sort of neglecting. Oops.

* * *

 _Riverdale Stables, Central Park, New York_

Victory waved to Abby, the manager of the stables, who waved him over, "Hey Victory, nice to see you here. Soundwave misses you and the person you sent in to 'spend time' with him, doesn't know a thing about horses. Nearly got himself bitten; twice."

Victory tilted his head in confusion, "What person? I did not send anyone here."

Abby frowned thoughtfully, "You didn't send the Avenger? Reddish magenta colored, wears a yellow gold cape, has blue eyes?"

"Vision?"

Abby shrugged, "He said he knew you and he _is_ an Avenger."

Victory just nodded and walked toward the stable that housed Soundwave. As he approached the stable he heard the familiar snort of Soundwave and another equally familiar voice seemingly trying to calm the horse down. Victory rushed into the stables in time to see Vision avoid being bitten by a very frustrated and confused almost 6ft horse.

Victory ran over dropping his computer bag along the way, "Soundwave! Soundwave, stop!"

The horse snorted and turned toward him whinnying happily, he trotted over demanding to get petted. Victory stroked the horse's nose and scratched down his neck, "Hello Soundwave, did you miss me? I missed you. Were you giving Vision a hard time, hmmm?"

Victory looked over at the Avenger who sheepishly shuffled his feet and walked over picking up the computer bag along the way. Vision handed the brit his bag while wearily eyeing Soundwave who snorted at the Avenger.

"Play nice," murmured Victory pushing the horse's head away from Vision before turning toward the Avenger, "What are you doing here?"

Vision shuffled his feet, eyeing the horse before answering, "I remembered you saying over the phone that you were always busy and almost never had time to see him, so I took it upon myself to visit him. I never considered that he would be adverse to my company."

Victory smiled, "While I appreciate the thought, you should have asked me; Soundwave does not like strangers. I am surprised you managed to get him out of the stables at all."

"He was happy enough to follow me when I gave him an apple.'

"Well I guess that explains it."

Soundwave snorted and nosed Victory hoping to find more apples; he got a sugar cube and happily munched on that instead. Victory stroked his nose and looked up at Vision thoughtfully, "Give me your hand."

Vision tilted his head in confusion, but gave the brit his hand. Victory took it and grabbed Soundwave's halter with the other hand murmuring, "Do not bite him."

He placed Vision's hand on the horse's nose then carefully let go giving Vision an encouraging smile when the Avenger shot him a slightly panicked look. Soundwave snorted at the hand, but didn't move to dislodge or bite it. Vision cautiously stroked the horse's nose then moved around to scratch his neck. Soundwave winnied happily and stretched his neck out further so that Vision could scratch along the entire length.

Victory smiled as he got a curly comb and started brushing Soundwave's back, "Enjoying yourself?"

"I am quite enjoying myself; I never realized how soothing it was to stroke an animal; particularly a horse," answered Vision.

"Well, that is the reason why I got him," said Victory reaching up to comb through Soundwave's mane, "He is a therapy horse."

Vision paused in his stroking to look down at the brit in confusion, "Therapy horse?"

Victory looked up at the Avenger, "A more correct term would be an ESA or emotional support animal. They are typically used by people with disabilities but can also be used by people who have ptsd or depression."

Vision frowned, "Why do you have an emotional support animal?"

Victory paused in his brushing much to Soundwave's distaste, he winnied and nudged the brit's arm. Victory started brushing again while trying to think of a good enough response for Vision's question without delving into a painful past, "Um...I had him trained because it couldn't hurt to have a trained emotional support animal around and….yeah...yeah." Victory winced as he trailed off awkwardly; that was a horrible reason, but he couldn't really give another answer without revealing something from his past and he was definitely not ready for that. He concentrated on brushing Soundwave's mane and wouldn't meet Vision's eyes.

The Avenger frowned, he could immediately tell Victory was lying, he never got flustered and he most certainly never used contractions while speaking. Vision wanted to push, but knew he shouldn't so instead he took the brush from Victory's hand and handed him the reins, "Why don't you go and ride him while I go and fetch something. I promise to be back soon."

Vision quickly left leaving a confused Victory and Soundwave behind. The brit turned to the horse then gestured outside, "Shall we?"

* * *

 _Riverdale Stable, New York_

 _An hour later_

When Vision returned, Abby showed him to the practice ring where Victory and Soundwave were. The Avenger leaned against the railing and watched the duo go through the obstacle course; jumping over bars and weaving through a set of poles.

When Soundwave saw Vision he winnied a greeting and veered toward him taking Victory along with him. The brit laughed as the horse stuck his head over the bars and nudged Vision, hoping to get petted or, even better, a treat. Victory dismounted and stood beside Soundwave holding the reins, "There must be something special about you," he said to Vision, "I have never seen him warm up to someone this quickly."

"Well, I am honored then," said Vision seriously feeding Soundwave the apple he had gotten, "to be accepted as a friend."

"He is going to follow you around if you keep feeding him," noted Victory, eyeing the apple. "he will soon ditch me in favor of you."

Vision smiled slightly, "I don't believe that will happen; he is too loyal."

Vision pulled away from the horse to reach down and pull out a coffee cup which he handed to Victory. The brit raised an eyebrow and blew gently on the liquid before taking a sip and was pleasantly surprised to find it was tea and not coffee. He took a few more sips before handing it to Vision to hold while he unlocked the gate and led Soundwave out and over to get hosed off. As Victory went through the normal routine he explained the process to Vision and answered any questions.

* * *

 _Riverdale Stables, New York_

 _A few hours later_

A few hours later found the two sitting and talking happily in Soundwave's stall as the horse ate. During a lull in the conversation, Victory remembered the promise of a tea date not date that Vision had promised him a few days ago, "Vision, is this the tea date you promised me a few days ago?"

Vision turned a darker shade of magenta and spluttered, "Um...yes?"

"You decided to have it in the stables?"

"Well...you see...it was sort of a 'spur of the moment'...I didn't realize you would be here and I remembered I had not taken you to tea yet; I apologize if this was not quite what you had in mind."

Victory smiled, "I like it better actually. It is different than just sitting in a coffee shop and we have the company of my close companion," he patted Soundwave's leg who just snorted and continued eating, "I think one point goes to the Avenger for finding the perfect place."

Vision smiled back, secretly relieved, "Next time perhaps we will sit outside to enjoy the fresh air."

Victory laughed, "I would like that. Outside is more preferable than sitting in a stable, no matter how clean it is."

Victory looked at the lengthening shadows then turned on his phone to check the time, "I should get going before my roommates put out a search warrant."

"Of course," said Vision as he helped the brit up off the floor, "Would you mind if I walked you home?"

Victory smiled and shook his head before saying goodbye to Soundwave. The two walked out of the stables saying goodnight to Abby, before continuing down a pathway out of Central Park. Victory explained as they walked, how convenient it had been to find a large enough apartment to fit the three roommates at a good price and close enough to the university, cafe, and stables to walk. Pretty soon, the two were at Victory's door and Vision waited as Victory unlocked it, "I would ask if you wanted to come in, but my roommates are home and you would never get back to the compound before tomorrow."

Vision smiled, "I will heed your advice then and quickly leave before they see me."

"See you soon then?" Called out Victory to the retreating Avenger.

"Yes, I will make sure to pick up the next coffee orders," responded Vision, "Goodnight Victory."

"Goodnight Vision," answered Victory softly before entering the apartment and closing the door. He crouched down and scooped up Leaf's cat, Thor, and walked into his bedroom, quietly avoiding his two roommates who were arguing in the living room. Victory sat on the bed and let Thor sniff around before settling on his pillow.

Victory hummed to nothing in particular as he took off his shoes and changed into night clothes. He sat back down on the bed and looked at a picture of Soundwave that was on the nightstand; it had been a very close call today with the whole emotional support animal thing. He was almost positive Vision hadn't believed him, but was thankful he hadn't pushed further. He absentmindedly rubbed his left wrist and ran his fingers over the assortment of scars that were there; it had been a _very_ close call. He liked Vision, really, but to talk about any of it was to open himself up completely and he wasn't ready to do that again.

Victory sighed as he laid down, scooting Thor over only to have the cat climb onto his chest and settle there. Victory rolled his eyes, but didn't move the cat as he reached over to turn the light off and find his headphones. He slipped them into his ears and soon the happy melody of _Concerning Hobbits_ was heard and Victory forgot about his problems and fell asleep.

 **Hoped you enjoyed! Now that my crazy essays and novel work is out of the way, I'll have more time to write and hopefully update faster!**

 **As always loves, read, review, and follow!**


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